Unexplained Demise
by TinyDancer14
Summary: This is the most cruel way to die. It has no reason, no answer, no cause. Why did she die? We don't know. How did she die? We don't know. All we know is... nothing.


**Hello FanFiction readers. Tonight I am going to share with you a story about a cause that is currently being ignored in our society. It's called Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, also known as SIDS. You may have heard of this, and if so, good for you! What it is, is basically what it says. When a child dies suddenly without a cause or known reason, between the ages of 1 month to a year. So I just thought I'd share this story with you to teach everyone the dangers of this killing disease we really know nothing about. All of my facts were taken from and that is where you can go for further information. **

**I do not own anything in this story. Though if I owned SIDS, I would end it.**  


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Unexplained Demise

Life was so beautiful before this moment. Why him? Why now?

To the doctors, it was a sad but possible aspect- it could've happened to anyone- but to twenty-year-old Troy Bolton it was a shock. It struck without warning and was completely unexpected. How could this have possibly happened?

They took all the precautions. She didn't sleep on her stomach, they used a firm mattress instead of a soft one, there were no soft or plush items in her bed, and she was never too warmly dressed. That is why her death came as such a shock to both her parents and the doctors.

Troy looked down at the cold headstone before his feet. It was so small compared to the rest of them. A few white lilies lay upon the small wooden casket as it was slowly being lowered into the ground. It was all he could do to keep from crying as re-read the small engravings on the tombstone. It just couldn't be true. There was no possible way she was dead. Not yet. Not now.

**Emily Grace Bolton  
May 10****th**** 2011 - July 1****st**** 2011  
You'll always be in our hearts, our little angel**

SIDS in the dictionary was defined as "a sudden and unexpected death in an apparently healthy infant under the age of one." And that is exactly how Emily Grace died. Unexpectedly one early morning.

Troy just didn't understand how this could've happened. If they did everything right, both in pre- and post-natal care, how could she have died like this so suddenly? It's not like this was common in either families; he and Gabriella both had siblings. And they had already had a daughter prior to Emily, their two-year-old firstborn, Leah.

But Emily's death didn't hit anyone harder than it did her mother. Troy's wife, twenty-year-old Gabriella Bolton, was the one who had found Emily dead in her crib on that morning. She had gone upstairs to feed her, leaving Troy with Leah in the kitchen, and then there was a blood curdling scream. Troy remembered it like it was yesterday. It was a day he'd never forget.

_**Flashback...**_

"_Leah sweetie, eat your Cheerios. We're going to the park today, remember?" Troy cooed, trying to get her to eat. It wasn't exactly working._

"_Daddy, I not hungry!!" She squealed, throwing a few Cheerios at her father. Troy sighed, but had to admit that she was somewhat funny. He smiled and kissed her the top of her head, which was already chock-full of curly brown hair. Just like her mother._

_Suddenly, Troy heard Gabriella scream from upstairs. "AHHHHHHH! TROY! TROY!"_

_Troy knew something was up, as his heart raced in his chest. He scooped up Leah from her highchair and flew up the stairs in a hurry, utterly horrified by the sight before him._

_Gabriella stood in front of their youngest daughter's crib, one hand on the frame and the other on her mouth. She was crying silently, just simply staring down at the "sleeping" baby. _

_Setting Leah down, Troy came to her. "Baby, what's wrong?"_

"_It's Emily... she's dead."_

_After speaking those four words, the words that crashed Troy's world, Gabriella collapsed on the floor of the nursery, sobbing and shaking violently. Troy took one look at his infant daughter and broke down just as Gabriella had. He placed the blanket carefully over her and sat down on the floor next to Gabriella. _

"_Why Troy?" Gabriella cried. "Why did this happen? How could this have happened?"_

_Troy wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her towards him, collecting her in a hug. He didn't have the answer for this one. _

_Leah walked over slowly and took one look at her crying parents before breaking down herself. She began to cry as well._

"_Mommy, don't cry. Daddy, why are you sad?"_

_Troy included her in the hug and the three of them cried together. For Baby Emily's sake, and their own._

_**End of Flashback...**_

Two months. She was only alive for two months. She had only been apart of their lives for two months. To Troy and Gabriella, that was much too short for an addition to their family.

The service had ended, and their was a sort of reception ceremony in the hotel Gabriella's brother owned, which was a few streets away from the funeral home. But before heading over there, everyone stuck around to pay their respects and grieve with the tragedy-stricken parents.

"Gabriella, I'm going to go talk with my parents and a few others. Do you want to come?"

Gabriella shook her head, her eyes still focused on the grave. "Do you mind if I stay here for a little while?"

Troy lifted her chin and kissed her softly. "Of course not. I'll be right back okay?"

She nodded and Troy bent down to his other daughter. "Leah, do you want to stay here with Mommy or do you want to come with me?"

"With you, Daddy." She smiled sadly.

Troy lifted her into his arms and walked toward his parents. His mother was crying with Gabriella's mom, Jack Bolton left to comfort both of them, as Gabriella's father was regretfully in Paris at the moment on business. He hadn't known his granddaughter's demise would come this early, or he would've been there too. He loved her as much as anyone did.

"Hey mom, dad, Mrs. Montez." Troy greeted the parental units.

"Troy, how are you holding up?" Maria Montez asked, patting him on the shoulder and trying to stop her own tears from falling.

"I'm doing alright. It's not that easy. Gabriella's worse right now, and I'm really worried about her." He answered, hugging Maria close to him.

"We'll take Leah off your hands for awhile. Just talk to her. She really needs you right now." Jack suggested, taking Leah from Troy.

Troy kissed his daughter. "Thanks Dad. Leah, be a good girl, okay? I'll be back soon."

"Bye-bye Daddy." She whispered, laying her head on Jack's shoulder. It was past her naptime and she was getting tired.

Before making his way over to Gabriella, Troy was stopped by his friends, who still had his back since high school. He was so glad to have such a great support system in his close friends.

"Troy, I'm so sorry. I can't believe this happened." Taylor cried as she, Chad and the rest of the gang approached him.

"Thanks Taylor. I'm glad you guys came."

"How could we not?" Sharpay spoke up, wiping her eyes with her free hand. Her other hand was tightly clasped in her son, William's. "This is so terrible. We just had to be here for you and Gabriella."

"Do they know why?" Jason asked, pulling Kelsi closer to him while she cried. "Why she died, I mean."

Troy just shrugged. "She died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. It was just unexpected and unexplained. We even got an autopsy, a scene investigation, and a background of both my and Gabriella's medical history, but nothing proved out of the ordinary."

"How does this happen?" Chad questioned. "I mean, you had Leah... and she was alright..."

"I don't know, that's the most frustrating part of all! There are no answers to anything. They still don't know what causes SIDS, they don't know how to prevent it, and they can't figure out how to stop it. It's going to continue on killing babies every day and it isn't going to end."

"That's so heartbreaking." Kelsi whispered, placing a hand over her heart.

"I know," Troy gulped, swallowing past the lump in his throat. "Guys, I'll see you later. I need to go talk to Gabriella."

They all nodded sympathetically and bid him farewell. Troy trudged over to where Gabriella was still standing, mourning at the gravestone of their youngest daughter. God had taken her so suddenly. She hadn't even made a dent in their lives.

But she certainly left a hole in their hearts.

"Gabriella..." Troy spoke softly, wary to touch her at first. He knelt beside her on the soft cool grass.

"Everyone's gone, Gabriella. I think we should go too."

She looked up at him through tear-filled eyes. "I can't go Troy. I can't leave. I need her. I need Emily."

"I need her too." Troy agreed. "But it's just not going to work out that way, sweetheart. God has other plans for us. For Emily."

"So this is just going to keep going on, isn't it? No one's going to even try and stop this?" Gabriella turned back to the grave.

"They're trying," Troy began rubbing her back. "It's not that easy."

"Why, Troy? Why did it happen to us? Why our daughter?" She began to cry softly, the first time since the funeral.

"Why anybody's daughter Gabriella? Life is just not fair." He kissed her shoulder and hugged her close to him.

"I hate this. I hate knowing that my daughter is dead. Parents aren't supposed to live longer than their children! It isn't supposed to work that way!"

"I know it's not. It's not right."

"We didn't do anything wrong, Troy! We were good parents, we followed all the right precautions, and still something like this happened to us." Gabriella screamed, letting out all her rage, her fury, her pain. Troy just held her, letting her retaliate. It's what he always did in situations like this. He knew she just needed to vent.

For a long time they sat together, crying softly by each other's side. The unexpected death of their young daughter had taken a toll on them, and was wearing them out emotionally. Gabriella stopped crying after awhile and just sat staring out into the sky.

"She didn't suffer, did she?" She finally asked quietly.

Troy kissed her hair. "No Gabriella. The doctors assured us that Emily died quickly and peacefully in her sleep. There was no pain or suffering."

"At least it was peaceful."

"Exactly. I'm sure that's how she would've liked to die anyway."

After a short silence, Troy thought of something. It would be the last time he could ever do this, seeing as it was his last chance. He took a deep breath and began to sing Emily's favorite song. Her lullaby.

"_It's hard to believe that I couldn't see,_" Gabriella smiled at him as he continued. "_That you were always there beside me._"

Gabriella joined in, thinking this was a wonderful idea. "_Thought I was alone, with no one to hold, but you were always right beside me_."

"_This feeling's like no other, I want you to know. That I've never had someone that knows me like you do, the way you do. And I've never had someone as good for me as you, no one like you. So lonely before, I finally found, what I've been looking for..._" Their impeccable voices blended as one as they finished the song their daughter fell asleep to every night. It was the only thing that would calm her down.

Leaning in, both Troy and Gabriella kissed the headstone and stood up, prepared to bid their final farewell to their daughter.

"Goodbye my little angel, I love you so much," Troy smiled, wrapping an arm around Gabriella's waist.

"Goodbye sweetheart," Gabriella managed to choke out. "I'll never ever forget you. I love you."

Some people come into our lives and quickly leave. Sometimes it's purposeful, sometimes it's unintentional, but either way the footprints left on our hearts by said people will change our lives forever, and we will never be the same. Emily Grace Bolton was no exception. Emily was only in the world for two months before being taken so suddenly, which left her family empty-hearted, but so full of hope that they would one day find a cause and a cure for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, also known as SIDS.

Many more children die of SIDS in a year than all who die of cancer, heart disease, pneumonia, child abuse, AIDS, cystic fibrosis, and muscular dystrophy _combined_. After finding out these statistics, Troy and Gabriella Bolton were devastated, and began getting their friends and family to donate to the SIDS Research Foundation. After all, every little bit counts.

Won't you help too?


End file.
